Michael Fairclough

Sun Dogs

Sun-dogs are produced by the sun's rays being refracted through a high-level layer of hexagonal ice-crystals whose axes are vertical. This produces an image of a central sun bracketed horizontally by two equidistant, equibright mock-suns or parhelia, sometimes coinciding with an accompanying halo. With the three 'suns' and their respective reflections on the sea, the circle of the halo and the line of the horizon these elements produce a remarkable geometry and symmetry against which the looser structures of clouds and sea can be used in counterpoint.MF, Osborne Samuel, 2004